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Walt Rubel: Senator wants to turn back clock on educational structure

Las Cruces Sun-News

Posted:
01/04/2014 02:47:54 PM MST

When Bill Richardson was governor, Democrats in control of the state Legislature eagerly went along with his proposal to change the state's education administration structure, scrapping the old state school board and replacing it with a secretary of education who would be accountable to the governor.

Richardson pointed to the dismal testing scores that each year had New Mexico at or near the bottom of national rankings as proof that the old 15-member state school board was too unwieldy and unable to respond quickly to changing developments.

The new secretary would bring an accountably to the position that had been lacking before, Richardson said. He or she would answer to the governor, but still have to go before the Legislature for funding and approval of proposed changes. And, if the secretary didn't perform up to snuff, he or she could be replaced, or the governor could be voted out of office. All much simpler than trying to bring reform through a board of elected representatives scattered throughout the state.

Legislators agreed, and scheduled a special election to amend the Constitution. And, in October 2003, 55 percent of voters approved the change.

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Veronica Garcia was appointed the state's first secretary of education, and went to work implementing the policies of the Richardson administration. And, since his policies were generally in line with those of the Legislature, lawmakers seemed relatively happy with the change.

Until November of 2010. That's when voters elected a Republican governor. And suddenly, the Democratic-controlled Legislature wasn't so enamored with the idea of an appointed education secretary implementing the policies of the governor.

First, the Senate refused to hold confirmation hearings for Gov. Susana Martinez's choice for the job, Hanna Skandera. She has been leading the department for three years now, but has still not received an up or down vote on her confirmation.

And now, at least one senator wants to change the Constitution again and go back to the way it was before. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, has prefiled a constitutional amendment that would eliminate the secretary of education and return to an elected state board of education.

The current format is just too political, Padilla argues.

"It's not going to work to have massive, drastic changes every time we have a new governor," Padilla told Albuquerque Journal reporter Dan Boyd.

Right. Much better to change the Constitution and upend the foundational structure every time we get a new governor.

Padilla claims his new school board would not be political because the election would be nonpartisan. If that were the case, the Las Cruces City Council, which also has non-partisan elections, would not be political.

In a lengthy column on page C5 today, state Public Education Commission member Jeff Carr, who is also a teacher, advocates for the change, but doesn't explain why a school board would be more effective than a secretary.

The fact is, Richardson was right. A reform effort led by a single person with commitment and vision will be more effective than one led by a 10- or 15-person board, each with their own vision.

If Padilla and other Senate Democrats believe the reforms being attempted by Skandera are wrong, the way to oppose them is by campaigning to beat Gov. Martinez in the fall, not by returning to a scattered, ineffective education bureaucracy where nothing ever gets accomplished.

Walter Rubel is editorial page editor of the Sun-News. He can be reached at wrubel@lcsun-news.com or follow @WalterRubel on Twitter.

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